Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

46. Bad Moms

"I forgot how much I missed this land," Elijah said as he and Riley walked through the woods, arm in arm.

"Is it weird?" Riley asked. "Being back here after a thousand years?"

Elijah considered her question. "What's weirder is being back here after a thousand years with my mother alive once again."

She looked up and noticed his frown. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to rearrange his features so as not to give away his negative train of thoughts.

She raised an eyebrow. "I spent months trying to get your face out of my mind, I know what it looks like when you're worried. It's the same face that you made when you asked me to stay away from Damon."

Elijah chuckled, before the frown once again took over his face. "I'm worried about my mother. She's been exhibiting... strange behavior."

"What's 'strange' for a woman that's been dead for a thousand years?" Riley questioned. "I'd be more surprised if she was acting normal."

"She's been burning sage," he informed her. "An action that usually takes place when completing a privacy spell."

Riley frowned. "OK, that's a bit weird. Can't you ask one of your brothers? Or Rebekah?"

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Klaus, Rebekah and Kol know less than I do, and I don't trust Finn. He hates what we are, always has."

"So what do you think she's doing? Because even if she is plotting something... you're all immortal."

Elijah shrugged his shoulders. "Witches' power made us immortal. I'm fairly sure that if anyone were to undo that immortality, it would be the Original witch."

Riley stopped walking, forcing Elijah to also stop.

"I don't care if she's the Original witch," Riley said. "If your mother is trying to kill you, we'll find out, and we'll stop her."

"I appreciate your optimism," he said. "But it won't be that simple."

"Elijah, if you think I'm letting you leave me again, you're seriously mistaken."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

"I'm not leaving you," he promised. Neither of them could believe how infatuated they felt so quickly after their first kiss.

"Good," she said, kissing him again. "Because you don't have a great track record for sticking around."

"I'll find out my mother's plans before she has a chance to implement them," he assured her.

"Or you're just paranoid and she has no plans?" Riley suggested, hoping that her suggestion was the correct one. Because if the Original witch was planning a move against her own kids, who was going to stop her?

***

Later in the day, Bonnie, Riley and Elena sat in Elena's bedroom. It turned out that the Original witch, aka Esther, had been burning sage for a privacy spell – a spell that Bonnie was trying to copy.

"He was gloating, like actual gloat," Elena grimaced, her tone full of disgust. "Like he was proud of himself for sleeping with her."

"I can't believe Damon slept with Rebekah," Bonnie shook her head absentmindedly while she worked on the spell.

"I can't believe he never told me!" Riley said, earning a raised eyebrow from Elena. "What? If you get into bed with the sister of your sworn enemy, you tell your best friend!"